2025 Audi S3 Gets a Power Bump and the RS3's Drift Mode

• Audi is updating the S3 sedan for 2025 with extra power and chassis revisions.
• It also gets the torque-splitting rear end function from the RS3, which includes a drift mode.
• We expect the revised S3 to arrive in America later this year, but we don’t have U.S. specs yet.

The middle child of the Audi A3 lineup is inching closer to its big sibling. For 2025, the S3 gains horsepower and torque, benefits from chassis revisions, and adopts the rear-end torque-split function from the top-dog RS3. The car also appears to have some visual tweaks, although it’s still in camouflage while we wait for the full reveal.

With new output figures of 328 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, the turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four is 22 hp and 15 pound-feet stronger than before. Those figures are for the Europe-spec car, so it’s possible the numbers will be slightly different in the U.S., but we expect a boost either way. Audi claims a 62 mph time of 4.7 seconds, but considering we got the old S3 to 60 mph in just 4.3 seconds, the new one will surely beat that time by a wide margin. Audi also claims that the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission features quicker shifts.

2025 Audi S3

The S3’s rear end now has the torque-split system that employs two clutch packs, as on the five-cylinder, 400-hp RS3. Excitingly, this enables a sort of drift mode, which Audi calls Dynamic Plus, that sends more power to the rear axle—and the outside rear wheel especially—to induce oversteer. Other chassis tweaks include retuned steering, a new front-end geometry with a different camber angle, and larger brakes with two-piston front calipers. Newly available Falken summer tires should make the S3 grippier than before, too.

Look for more information to come on the S3 as Audi prepares to reveal it in full within the next few months. Its starting price is likely to rise somewhat compared with the current car’s $48,495 outlay.